North Coast railway line, New South Wales

North Coast railway line
standard gauge
Route map Showing distance in km from Central station, Sydney Legend 193 Maitland ( Main North line ) 195 Telarah Walka Water Works 199 Oakhampton Hunter River 203 Mindaribba Ardrie 213 Paterson Rail Motor Society Paterson River 219 Martins Creek Martins Creek quarry Barokee 226 Hilldale Wallarobba Tunnel 232 Wallarobba 238 Wirragulla 245 Dungog Williams River Dingadee 254 Monkerai Monkerai Tunnel Nooroo 267 Stroud Road 278 Weismantels 283 Wards River 291 Craven Stratford colliery 295 Stratford Avon River 302 Berrico 309 Gloucester Avon River 316 Yumbunga Bulliac Tunnel 324 Bulliac 334 Bundook 339 Somerset Manning River Bridge 342 Mount George Charity Creek 353 Kimbriki 355 Karaak Flat 360 Killawarra 367 Wingham Kolodong 378 Taree 387 Kundle Kundle 392 Melinga 403 Coopernook Moorland 418 Johns River Batar 433 Kendall 439 Herons Creek 446 Kerrewong Kerrewong Tunnel 455 Wauchope Hastings River 463 Pembroke Wilson River 472 Telegraph Point 483 Mingaletta 487 Kundabung Macleay River Bridge 504 Kempsey 515 Colombatti 520 Tamban 535 Eungai 544 Warrell Creek 552 Macksville Nambucca River 557 Wirrimbi Newee Creek 565 Nambucca Heads Peterkins School Platform 581 Urunga Kalang River 586 Raleigh Bellinger River 588 Repton Repton Tunnel Archville 596 Bonville 601 Sawtell 607 Boambee Beach 608 Coffs Harbour Red Hill No.1 Tunnel Red Hill No.2 Tunnel Red Hill No.3 Tunnel Red Hill No.4 Tunnel Red Hill No.5 Tunnel 620 Landrigans 623 Karangi 628 Coramba 633 Mellelea 640 Nana Glen ( Dorrigo line) 652 Glenreagh 664 Kungala 673 Lanitza 683 Braunstone 696 Grafton Clarence River 699 Old Grafton 706 Koolkhan 714 Kirran 717 Warragai Creek 728 Gurranang 739 Lawrance Road 743 Banyabba 757 Camira Creek Myrtle Creek 776 Rappville Coombell 794 Leeville South Casino 805 Casino Old Casino railway station ( Murwillumbah line) Nammoona 816 Fairy Hill Backmede Baraimol Kyogle 838 Kyogle North Kilgra Hermits Peak 847 Wiangaree The Cape 853 The Risk Mount Lion 863 Loadstone Treberth Cougal Cougal Spiral No.2 Tunnel Cougal Spiral No.1 Tunnel 875 Border Loop Border Tunnel 876 Queensland border 888 Glenapp 897 Dulbolla Beaudesert Shire Tramway Logan River 909 Tamrookum 931 Bromelton 938 Kagaru 957 Greenbank 972 Acacia Ridge freight terminal Pradella Sidings Queensland Rail Tennyson line (3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) gauge) 979 Clapham freight terminal Fisherman Islands line to Port of Brisbane 984 Park Road sidings Vulture Street tunnel 986 South Brisbane station (terminus 1930-1986) Brisbane River (Merivale Bridge) Riverside Expressway 988 Brisbane Roma Street This diagram: view talk edit

The North Coast railway line is the primary rail route in the Mid North Coast and Northern Rivers regions of New South Wales, Australia, and forms a major part of the Sydney–Brisbane rail corridor.

The line begins at

The Bonalbo branch from Casino was stillborn, with partial construction left incomplete.

At the NSW/Queensland border is a long tunnel called Border Tunnel, a single-track extending 1160 metres. Immediately south of it was

The line is owned by the Transport Asset Holding Entity but leased to the Australian Rail Track Corporation until 2064.^[1][2][3]

History

The first North Coast railway was opened between Murwillumbah, Byron Bay and Lismore in 1894 and extended to Casino in 1903 and Grafton in 1905. A branch line was built to Kyogle in 1910, it was extended to South Brisbane in 1930.

The line was built between 1905 and 1932, and when completed, bypassed the Main North line and provided a quicker route up the eastern seaboard. The development of the line was hampered by the many large rivers that flow through the North Coast. The line also features the Cougal Spiral, which is one of only two spirals in New South Wales.

A railway was built from

The completion of the Sydney–Brisbane link saw the Casino–Murwillumbah line become a branch line.^[6] In 1930 a branch line had been added to Ballina but this closed in 1949.^[7] The Murwillumbah branch closed in 2004.

A picturesque branch was opened from Glenreagh to

Passenger services

Current services

NSW TrainLink operates three daily XPT services from Sydney terminating at Grafton, Casino and Brisbane and thirty-one weekly services from Newcastle terminating at Dungog.^[9][10]

Historical services

The premier trains on the North Coast line were the two daily services to Brisbane, the Brisbane Limited and the Brisbane Express. The Limited was the fastest service, stopping only at major stations, while the Express operated as a sweeper service stopping at most stations north of Grafton and provided connections to services on the Murwillumbah branch.^[11] Air-conditioned Sleeping cars had operated on the Brisbane Limited from 1960. In April 1973 the Brisbane Express was withdrawn and replaced by the Gold Coast Motorail, operating to Murwillumbah. The North Coast Daylight Express and North Coast Mail operated to Grafton until they were both replaced in 1985 by a single Holiday Coast XPT train. Following the Booz Allen Hamilton review of 1989 which recommended severe rationalisation of country rail services, the Brisbane and Murwillumbah services were converted to XPT operation in February 1990, and a locomotive hauled Grafton Express service to Grafton introduced in June 1990.^[12] In November 1993 the Grafton Express was also converted to XPT operation.^[13]

Freight services

When the Main North Line was closed north of Armidale in 1988, super-freighters to Brisbane began using the North Coast Line, operated by the State Rail Authority, then National Rail. Today, freight services on the North Coast Line are operated by Pacific National and SCT Logistics. These superfreighters do not serve any of the towns they pass through - in the government railways era, there would be regular freight services to towns such as Kempsey, Grafton and Casino.

The only freight train that regularly services the North Coast Line is a cement and sugar train for Grafton, Operated by Pacific National.

Improvement Works

The North Coast Line has significant curvature, equivalent to turning through 150 circles – 75.5 to the right and 74.5 to the left heading north, the difference of one circle due to the Cougal Spiral in the Border Ranges. Of course the curves are unevenly distributed meaning that maximum speeds change hundreds of times usually within the range of 60 km/h (37 mph) and 115 km/h (71 mph) for freight trains.

The Australian Rail Track Corporation has recently resleepered the track with concrete sleepers, upgraded the signals and installed new loops to increase efficiency. In mid-2011 they eased about 58 sections of curves on the line, increasing line speed for the XPT and freight trains. The curve easing was done without land purchases, so the track changes would be minor, staying within the existing corridor.

Location list

This is a list of all the locations and crossing loops on the North Coast line.

See also

• Rail transport in New South Wales

References